'Britain is unrecognisable': Farage says he feels awkward at no-one speaking English on trains as Ukip 'reclaims' Love Britain slogan from the BNP
- Ukip leader predicts party will trigger political earthquake in May's election
- Attacks political establishment and tells voters: 'Don't get mad, get even'
- Unveils new slogan 'Love Britain' which was used in BNP ad in 2010
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Nigel Farage today claimed he felt 'awkward' about foreign passengers not speaking English on trains, as he claimed immigration had left Britain 'unrecognisable'.
The Ukip leader's extraordinary remarks came as the party unveiled a new slogan, 'Love Britain', which has previously been used by the far right British National Party.
Claiming immigration will be the defining issue of the European elections, Mr Farage told voters ‘don’t get mad, get even’ as he boasted his party would win in May.
Ukip leader Nigel Farage boasted that his party
would cause a 'political earthquake' by topping the polls in May's
European Parliament elections
Ukip unveiled its new 'Love Britain' slogan at the conference in Torquay but it was used in 2010 by the BNP
Mr Farage claimed Ukip had made discussing immigration 'respectable' and said he was reclaiming 'Love Britain' from extremists.
Speaking during a Q&A session at the party's spring conference in Torquay, Mr Farage voiced concern about no-one speaking English on public transport.
He said: 'I got the train the other night, it was rush hour, from Charing Cross, it was the stopper going out. We stopped at London Bridge, New Cross, Hither Green.
'It wasn't until after we got past Grove Park that I could actually hear English being audibly spoken in the carriage. Does that make me feel slightly awkward? Yes.
'I wonder what's really going on. And I'm sure that's a view that will be reflected by three quarters of the population, perhaps even more.
'That does not mean one is anti-immigration, we're not anti-immigration, we want immigration, but we do absolutely believe we should be able to judge it both on quantity and quality.'
'In scores of our cities and market towns, this country in a short space of time has frankly become unrecognisable'
Ukip leader Nigel Farage
In his earlier keynote speech, Mr Farage said the scale of immigration was creating a society in which people did not want their children to grow up: 'In scores of our cities and market towns, this country in a short space of time has frankly become unrecognisable.
'Whether it is the impact on local schools and hospitals, whether it is the fact in many parts of England you don't hear English spoken any more.
'This is not the kind of community we want to leave to our children and grandchildren.'
Mr Farage claimed his party poses the biggest threat to the political establishment in modern times.
He predicted Ukip would win the European Parliament elections in May and secure hundreds of new councillors before taking seats in the Commons next year.
But his launch was overshadowed by his new slogan, forcing him to again distance Ukip from far right parties.
Mr Farage said there were 84 days until Ukip would trigger a 'political earthquake' by coming top in the European elections
Soon after the new 'Love Britain, Vote Ukip' slogan was unveiled, the Guido Fawkes website noted that the British National Party used the slogan 'Love Britain, Vote BNP' in 2010.
A BNP spokesman said: 'They’ve stolen our policies and now they’ve stolen our slogan.'
In an attempt to avoid embarrassment, a Ukip spokeswoman said the party was 'reclaiming' the line by using it.
Mr Farage told the BBC: 'I’m sorry, the National Front used the Union Jack – we haven’t burnt them all, have we?
'We are the party that has made debating Europe respectable; we are the party that’s made debating immigration respectable, and we are now going to make the fact that we can be patriotic and proud of our country not something to bury under the carpet, not something to be sneered at but something we can say openly.
'We are claiming that territory, and d’you know what? To hell with the BNP or anybody else. It’s our slogan now.'
Mr Farage claimed Ukip had made discussing immigration 'respectable'
In his speech, Mr Farage said told party members they were on the cusp of a major electoral breakthrough.
He said: ‘We have got 84 days until these European elections. I want us to be the patriotic fightback. I want us to be the people who say we are proud of our country.’
Attacking the political establishment which he says dominates the other parties, he added: ‘Don’t get mad, get even. Vote Ukip on May 22.
‘We carry the hopes now of countless millions on our shoulders. We are in politics because we believe in our country and we believe in our people. Together we can get our country back.’
He said that immigration has now become the ‘number one issue in British politics’ and Britain cannot have its own immigration policy while it is a member of the European Union.
’80 per cent of the British people did not want borders to come down with Romania and Bulgaria, but they did, we have lost control and we want to take it back,’ he said.
‘Our ruling classes have lost confidence in this country and its people.
‘That lack of confidence is reflected in the way our own country is governed too, and no better example of that can be the recent crisis that we've had over the floods.’
Ukip are expected to beat the Tories in May's European Parliament elections, and could push Labour into second.
But the party has been left embarassed by the views of some of its members, including a councillor who suggested flooding had been caused by gay marriage.
Ukip is holding its spring conference in Torquay, where delegates can buy ties in party colours or decorated with pound signs
Today Mr Farage insisted his candidates could 'say what they like' because they represent a broad base of public opinion.He said: 'These elections, in many ways, will be an opportunity for us to tell the political class where to go.'
The Ukip leader said that since the 2010 elections, candidates were now of a 'quality and calibre' the party could be proud of.
He said: 'Despite repeated attempts to ridicule us, our people come from the real world, they've got real-life experiences, unlike the political classes.
'And they're people who have already had jobs - how about that.'
He has faced criticism for claiming that women who take time off to have children are 'worth less' to employers.
To counter claims that the party is sexist, Mr Farage highlighted increased numbers of women in the party and the prominent place on candidate lists of many women.
And he predicted that the next party leader to be a woman would be in Ukip.
Mr Farage urged delegates to launch a 'patriotic
fightback', while outside the conference hall British bulldogs gnawing
on the EU flag were on sale
The Tories were dealt a huge blow yesterday by
new figures showing net migration to Britain had rocketed by 60,000 to
212,000 in the year to September 2013.It was driven entirely by a 40 per cent leap in the number of people taking advantage of EU edicts on free movement.
Mr Farage said Britain has become unrecognisable in recent years and is no longer a community fit for passing to our children and grandchildren.
'We have seen since 2004 a doubling of youth unemployment, we have seen since that time wage compression - people doing jobs now taking home less money than they were 10 years ago.
'All of this has happened because we now have a totally distorted labour market in Britain, because of the massive oversupply that has come to us from eastern Europe.
Former Tory MP Neil Hamilton, now Ukip's campaign director, and his wife Christine were among delegates
Outside the conference protesters wearing masks of Mr Farage warned of the dangers to Britain from leaving the EU
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